Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Caryophyllales > Caryophyllaceae > Saponaria > Saponaria officinalis

Saponaria officinalis (bouncing bet; bouncing-bett; bouncingbet; bouncingbet soapweed; soapwort; sweet Betty)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Saponaria officinalis is a common perennial plant from the carnation family (Caryophyllaceae). This plant has many common names, including common soapwort, bouncing-bet, crow soap, wild sweet William, and soapweed. There are about 20 species of soapworts altogether. Saponaria officinalis' native range extends throughout Europe, and in Asia to western Siberia. It grows in cool places at low or moderate elevations under hedgerows and along the shoulders of roadways.
View Wikipedia Record: Saponaria officinalis

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Medium-Low
Screening - Summer [2]  Dense
Screening - Winter [2]  Porous
Bloom Period [2]  Late Spring
Drought Tolerance [2]  High
Fire Tolerance [2]  High
Flower Type [3]  Hermaphrodite
Frost Free Days [2]  4 months 10 days
Fruit/Seed Abundance [2]  High
Fruit/Seed Begin [2]  Summer
Fruit/Seed End [2]  Summer
Growth Form [2]  Rhizomatous
Growth Period [2]  Spring, Summer
Growth Rate [2]  Moderate
Hazards [3]  The plant contains saponins; Although toxic, these substances are very poorly absorbed by the body and so tend to pass through without causing harm. They are also broken down by thorough cooking. Saponins are found in many plants, including several that are often used for food, such as certain beans. It is advisable not to eat large quantities of food that contain saponins. Saponins are much more toxic to some creatures, such as fish, and hunting tribes have traditionally put large quantities of them in streams, lakes etc in order to stupefy or kill the fish;
Leaf Type [2]  Deciduous
Lifespan [3]  Perennial
Pollinators [3]  Lepidoptera
Propagation [2]  Container, Sprig
Root Depth [2]  10 inches (25 cm)
Scent [3]  The flowers are slightly scented with a sweet aroma that has an undertone of clove;
Seed Vigor [2]  Low
Seeds Per [2]  249999 / lb (551155 / kg)
Shape/Orientation [2]  Erect
Structure [5]  Herb
Usage [3]  A soap can be obtained by boiling the whole plant (but especially the root) in water; It is a gentle effective cleaner; The best soap is obtained by infusing the plant in warm water; The roots can be dried and stored for later use; The plant is sometimes recommended as a hair shampoo, though it can cause eye irritations; The plant spreads vigorously and can be used as a ground cover when planted about 1 metre apart each way;
Vegetative Spread Rate [2]  Moderate
Flower Color [2]  Purple
Foliage Color [2]  Green
Fruit Color [2]  Brown
Flower Conspicuous [2]  Yes
Height [3]  39 inches (1 m)
Width [3]  39 inches (1 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [2]  USDA Zone: 5 Low Temperature: -20 F° (-28.9 C°) → -10 F° (-23.3 C°)
Light Preference [4]  Mostly Sunny
Soil Acidity [4]  Moderate Acid
Soil Fertility [4]  Intermediate
Soil Moisture [4]  Moist
Water Use [2]  Moderate
View Plants For A Future Record : Saponaria officinalis

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External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 3Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 4ECOFACT 2a Technical Annex - Ellenberg’s indicator values for British Plants, M O Hill, J O Mountford, D B Roy & R G H Bunce (1999)
♦ 5Kattge, J. et al. (2011b) TRY - a global database of plant traits Global Change Biology 17:2905-2935
♦ 6Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants
♦ 7HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
♦ 8Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 9Robertson, C. Flowers and insects lists of visitors of four hundred and fifty three flowers. 1929. The Science Press Printing Company Lancaster, PA.
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0